Thursday, January 30, 2014

Dues Referendum 2014 - guest post

I write to you here as an elected councilor of Canadian Actors Equity, as a member of Equity’s Finance Review Committee, and as an individual member of this association. I will be blunt: Equity needs to increase its membership dues. It needs to do this in order to continue its core service and to ensure that its basic functionality as an association stays strong into the future. It needs your help to do this.

“What has Equity done for us lately?” I hear that a lot from CAEA members. My answer is always the same: Quite a lot, actually. And it has done so with increasingly limited resources. Prior to becoming an Equity councilor I always wondered whether Equity was spending our money prudently and in the best interests of its members. I still hear that question now from other members. Having spent the last five years on CPAG and Equity Council I can tell you that Equity takes the matter of fiscal responsibility very seriously. And Equity does have the best interest of ALL of its members in any decision that it makes.

As individual members it is easy to forget all the labour gains that Equity has successfully fought for over the years. Take a moment to think about what your pay, working conditions, and the general state of theatre would be without those gains. What has Equity done for me as an individual member? Lots! Equity responded quickly to my concerns regarding the challenges of creating of Indie theatre. Equity created an extensive member survey followed by a new series of updated indie contracts that go a long way to address challenges faced by small scale theatre in this country.

Equity recently introduced a Service Standards protocol to improve staff service. It has streamlined and improved member communications. It has significantly cut Council and staff spending. What can Equity do for its members in the future? How about a website upgrade? Less paperwork? More audition initiatives? All of these things cost money and we haven’t had a dues increase since the late nineties. So we now turn to you. Your association needs you now more than ever. Please vote yes on the referendum.

Mark Brownell
National Councilor for Ontario

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